Today, one of my best friends, Ali Saif, finished the Qur’an Masha’Allah. I definitely didn’t want to miss this joyous moment, so I made sure to cancel all prior arrangements so that I could be there and witness the celebration of a path that was filled with both happiness and hardship. I walked into Al-Huda School, got my visitor’s pass (yes, now I have to get a pass to go to my school of 7+ years), and went downstairs to the Hifzh School.

It was memory after memory that came rushing back to me as I walked down the stairs and said Salaam to my former class and to the teacher with whom I had, Alhamdulillah, also finished the Qur’an with. As I sat down and waited for Ali to begin, friend after friend started to arrive. Why? Because they too heard of another Hafidh joining the ranks and they came to be a part of it. These friends represented the various generations of Hifzh School and now they had come together for the 28th Hafidh from Al-Huda School Masha’Allah.

Why do I mention all of this? Well, first of all, it’s always good news when a Muslim finishes the Qur’an and is a very noteworthy incident indeed. But this event, in particular, was very significant because so many people came from their various colleges and occupations. Friends from various Masaajid and universities took a break from their schedules and came down to hear the recital of the Qur’an and it was a moment that filled me with great happiness and sadness. The lyrics of Ghurabaa, a famous poem sung by Saad Al-Ghamdi, quickly rushed to mind:

“كم تذاكرنا زمانا نحن يوم كنّا سعداء ,بكتاب الله نتلوه صباحا أو مساءا” – “How many times we remembered a time when we were happy / In the book of Allah, we recite in the morning and the evening / Ghurabaa….”

There was not a single friend in there that did not reminisce about old times and the several memories attached to the Hifzh School. Sometimes we get so caught up with other projects and new developments that we forget about our previous experiences and all the good that came as a direct result of that…

This is a rather personal story, but I wanted to share it so that others will make dua for my grandmother and so that it may be an inspiration for others…

One day, my father came into the house solemnly and went very quietly to my mother. A few minutes later, my mother was crying with my father was trying to comfort her. I found out that my maternal grandmother passed away.

My grandmother…had passed away.

As I thought of her life, I reflected on how much it had changed all those around her. Before I was born, my grandmother was once sleeping and suddenly woke up. She saw the time and thought she missed Asr. She was so suddenly shocked that she suffered her first stroke only because she thought she missed a prayer. A few years later, she fell very severely, became paralyzed from the neck down and was unable to utter any words.

Except for two words… Alhamdulillah and Al-Amin.

People would always tell me about miracles, but this was a personal one. She couldn’t say anything but these two words and they were only praising Allah and His Prophet. The amazing thing is that this wasn’t for only a year or two, but for twelve years. Imagine if you had nothing but good coming out of your mouth for more than 4,380 days…

When I was younger and would visit her in Bangladesh, I always felt a special affinity to her and while others would be in the living room or shopping, I would sit beside her bed and play on my own with her beside me. She couldn’t move, nor talk (except when she needed something and would then say the two phrases), but I felt a special peace when I sat beside her bed.

Once, I went to a relative’s house and as they had no television or computers, they humored us in the old way – they gave us clay and taught us how to make special objects. To this day, I still remember how to make a clay rose and I remember when I successfully made my first one. I triumphantly presented it to my grandmother and she put on the widest smile on her face. And it is this wide smile that is etched in my mind and heart after all these years…

It was times like these when she would broadly smile that I would feel very happy. When our vacation in Bangladesh was over, everybody was weeping (which in itself is amazing because of the amount of love they had for us even though we’ve been with them for such a short time), but nobody’s sadness was greater than my grandmother – she cried all day and night and I felt tremendous guilt washing over me for leaving her in such a state. We went to the airport, very sad and crushed, but were told by the officials that our flight was canceled until the next day. We rushed home, ecstatic, and the first thing I did when we reached home was to dash to my grandmother’s side. She was still crying but when she looked up and saw me, she smiled a smile that I have never seen before; it was the most genuine and heartfelt smile I had ever seen…

For her last 12 years, she never said anything other than Alhamdulillah and Al-Amin, except once. It may seem like a fiction romance story, but I assure you, it’s real and was witnessed by others. When my father came to propose for my mother, all the men were in the living room while my mother was with my grandmother. She was feeling very sad because my grandmother was ailing and didn’t want to leave her in such a state. To her surprise, my grandmother uttered her only words (other than the usual ones) in more than a decade: “Marry him for he is a good man and will be perfect for you.” My mother screamed in shock, and others ran to the room to see what happened. When begged to say more, my grandmother simply said, “Alhamdulillah.”

And it was in such a state that I, her grandson, as well as many others ever saw her. Even though she lost her power of movement and speech, she would never complain and would only spend her days and nights praising Allah and His Messenger. May Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) forgive all her past sins, shower her with Mercy, and give her Jannatul Firdaus. Ameen…

Reading today’s Washington Post, I came across a first page article that really struck me; it was basically about an Amtrak engineer who had watched a dozen suicides happen in front of his eyes over the course of 20 years. People would be sitting in the middle of train tracks just waiting to be hit, and the train engineers would not be able to deter the person with their frantic horn blasts and their attempts to brake the 75-mph train. As the article mentions:

“When I looked in the mirror, he was tumbling in the air, just flying,” Evans said. “I can see it as clearly as if it was happening in front of me right now.”

Colorfast mental snapshots of horror, a sense of overwhelming helplessness, sympathy and sometimes anger — these are the aftershocks that engineers and subway train operators report from their special perch as unwilling agents of sudden death.”

Imagine yourself, witnessing a murder happening in front of your eyes, and there is nothing that you can do. Now imagine all those around you that are following the wrong path and are destined for Hell if they don’t change – are you in that same sense of hopelessness?

“Metro’s wide windshields are designed to maximize the engineer’s view. Unfortunately, that means train operators see tragedy unfold with widescreen clarity, a high-def horror they never forget.”

What better maximization do we have other than our eyes in which we get a full view of everything happening in front of us? We have become so used to seeing murder scenes, hearing reports of the amount of dead people in a war or earthquake, reading tallying scores of dead people on Facebook and Twitter, but yet, our feelings of sadness have ebbed away. Why do we no longer feel the ‘high-def’ horror of seeing someone practicing another religion other than Islam and paving their way towards Hell? Have we become so desensitized?

“…the flip side of not being responsible is the devastating feeling of not be able to do anything in the moments before impact. The driver of a car might at least have the option of swerving out of the way or slamming on the brakes. The driver of a train doesn’t steer, and it can take a half-mile or more to stop. Evans has conditioned himself not to hit the emergency brake, a futile gesture more likely to injure passengers or derail the train than protect the person out front.”

Have we had previous experiences that no matter how much we tried, our attempts were futile? Because of this, we just stopped hitting ‘the emergency brake’ and stopped calling people to Islam? This really shouldn’t be the case because we never know when someone will become Muslim and come back to the Straight Path.

“The operator’s sense of helplessness can be worse when the person on the tracks doesn’t actually want to die.”

Sometimes we see people that really don’t believe in their religion and are looking for a way out. However, a circumstance wouldn’t allow them, maybe because of family or perhaps because of cainotophobia (fear of change)? Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu alayhi wa sallam) experienced this when Abu Talib refused to accept Islam because of his forefathers, so it definitely did happen. However, like the Prophet, we got to do as much as we can in hard times like those.

We’re not as hopeless as these train engineers that can’t do anything when a murder’s about to happen. Alhamdulillah, Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) gave us much more freedom to do something. We have a full view of the way people are living their lives and may sometimes feel a sense of hopelessness. But get over it. The Prophet did, and ended up making the whole of Arabia Muslim and the 1.5 billion Muslims now. Go help a Da’wah initiative. Be a true ambassador of Islam. You have potential to make somebody Muslim, so live up to that potential.

May Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) guide us, guide all those around us, and bring us together in Jannatul Firdaus. Ameen…

When people get angry, there is an interesting reaction in the brain. It starts to boil, it starts to convulse. It makes people say hateful things they would never have said in normal circumstances. When people get angry, they turn red, a red that is reminiscent of Hell and consequently, Shaitaan. One of the interesting things about anger though, is the deep regret that follows it – it’s kind of like the hangover that people describe after having alcohol – it puts them in a different state, and they almost always leave with a crazy headache. Same thing with anger.

How do we vent then? We have the Prophetic advice that if we were angry standing up, then we should sit down. If we were angry sitting down, then we should lay down. We should also make Wudu’ and say A’udhoo bIllahi minash Shaitaanir Rajeem. In addition to this, I also recommend:

1. Get away from people fast – You will do something stupid if someone says even the least provocative tease – get away from people and stay only with yourself. It’s better for you to break an object than for you to break a heart.

2. Vent creatively – Use your anger for something beneficial. Muslims are among the most emotional people and we easily get riled up at rallies and other events. The downside of it, of course, is that this riling up tends to disappear quickly, so make use of the anger. Instead of ranting to thin air, rant to the major ranking newspapers that make your mind “boil with anger” (an accurate description of the feeling of anger in my opinion).

3. Stay quiet. If you can’t leave everyone (or even if you leave everyone), stay quiet because when one is angry, the worst tarnations tend to come out. One can go to Hell Fire just by an extra word derogatory word. It would really suck if that was due to an angry moment, much less a “pious angry” moment.

May Allah help us to stay away from anger and keep us on His Straight Path. Ameen…

“Masha’Allah, he is so mature,” someone said to me, concerning another friend.

When he said that, I got to thinking on what made that friend of mine decidedly so mature as opposed to the rest of the crowd. I realized it was that he would talk less than the rest of us.

If that is what maturity is about, please forget it. My opinion, as of many people, is that maturity means that you are serious when it’s time to be serious and you joke around when it’s time to joke around. I know many that are very mature  – people that stay up late at night just thinking and contemplating. However, among their own people, they are easygoing and companionable. Are they immature for doing this? In reality, it is these people that are affecting the hearts of the people much more than the reserved and ‘mature’ people.

Stop judging people just based on their appearance. There is much more than one meets the eye in people.

- Immature Ranter,

Arif Kabir

Once, in Hifzh School, our teacher told us a story that was so inspirational that I had to put it down in verse:

A Mother’s Love

By Arif Kabir

A mother once gave birth to a beautiful boy,
Who soon became her source of joy,

Soon after, she went through a serious plight;
She lost one of her eyes, greatly affecting her sight,

She always took him to school and would never complain,
Even if meant that she had to wait for him in the rain,

The boy soon discovered that one of his worst fears
Had come true as he noticed his friends and peers

Treated his semi-blind mom as if she was strange,
Embarrassment filled him and his attitude started to change,

Instead of his mother, he picked his peers to appease,
He told her, “Don’t pick me up from school again, please”,

“I believe I am old enough to come home alone”,
To his mother, this type of behavior was entirely unknown,

Even though shocked and sad at hearing these words,
She nodded her head softly and hoped afterwards

That he would understand his mistake and correct his ways,
Sadly, this didn’t happen, and after many days

When he was much older and had by now left the house,
When he lived on his own along with his children and spouse,

The mother decided to visit her son one day,
To see if her son and his family were doing okay,

As someone opened the door, she smiled
As she saw it was her beautiful grandchild,

Sadly however, the child’s reaction wasn’t the same,
The child started crying and her father came

To see what was making his daughter cry,
When he saw who it was, he let out a sigh,

He told his mother, “You are making the children cry so I implore”
“Please don’t come back to visit us anymore…”

The mother said softly, “I must have come to the wrong address”,
“I am sorry for taking your time and causing you such distress”,

As she started on her way back home and turned around,
As her tears started to pour steadily on the ground,

She couldn’t understand why her child despised her so much, so
She supplicated to her Lord and asked him to bestow

His forgiveness on her son, who committed such cruelty
To his mother who cared for him in the midst of so much difficulty,

Months passed and the man started to speculate
On how was his mother and how was her state,

Because he noticed she stopped trying to contact him,
So he decided to go visit her on just a whim,

He arrived at the house and on the door was taped a dusty letter,
He pulled it off and cleaned it so he could read better,

“Son, by the time you receive this letter, it will be too late,
I must have already passed the prearranged date,

On the last day I was supposed to live,
I just want you to know that I forgive

Any harmful actions you may have done,
Also keep in mind, my only son,

I have always continuously loved you,
Despite all I have been through,

I know it may have never crossed your mind,
But the reason I am semi-blind

Is because many years back, we were involved in a crash,
Thankfully, nothing happened to me other than a small gash,

But when I turned around and saw your tender face, I started to cry
Because I noticed that in the accident, you had lost an eye,

So I decided to do what any mother would do for her beloved son,
I sacrificed one of my eyes for you so that your life would be a happy one,

Therefore, it fills my heart with pain,
When you look at me with such disdain,

I hope you finally understand,
That I would fulfill your any demand,

To keep you pleased and content,
And to keep your joy to the highest extent,

The man broke down crying and repented to his Lord,
And asked that his mother be given the highest reward,

For all her patience and for all her care,
For taking more than anyone else could ever bear…

We understand that the Muslim market is large. Even the media acknowledges that now:

Advertising executives say that ignoring the Muslim market — estimated to be about five million to eight million people, and growing fast — would be like missing the Hispanic market in the 1990s. -NY Times, April 28, 2007

The question comes up though, how to exactly reach this market via Muslim sources? The following are ways, not including mainstream ways (like Facebook, Amazon, and such) to reach the Muslim market:

ISNA/ICNA/MAS/AlMaghrib Annual Conventions – Hands down, Muslim conventions is the best way to reach a Muslim audience that is willing to pay.

Muslim Blogs – There is actually a really large Muslim blogosphere out there. Sites like MuslimMatters.org and MujahideenRyder.net are highly frequented sites that have slots for advertisements.

Muslim Newspapers/Magazines – Newspapers such as The Muslim Link in Washington DC and the TriState Muslim located in New Jersey, and magazines such as Sisters Magazine and Azizah Magazine have a large readership. As newspapers and magazines tend to remain in Muslim households for several months, it’s definitely a good idea to put an ad in at these magazines.

Muslim Mosques – A sizable majority of the 7,000,000+ Muslims go to Mosques on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Get in contact with the Mosque administration and see if you can put an ad on their bulletin board or in an interesting spot. Also see if you can sponsor an Iftar (fast break) during Ramadan or have a booth during Jumu’ah (Friday prayers) in which more than 200+ people come in the major Mosques.

Muslim Mailing Lists – Almost every single Muslim Mosque, center, and organization has a mailing list. Contact the mailing list admins and see if you can be included in the footer (i.e. this message was sponsored by 123 Corporation) or even as one of the news items in the mailing list.

If one was to utilize all of the above on a consistent basis, they would definitely reach an extremely large Muslim crowd and reap large benefits.

…until it’s gone! This is such a true phrase, and one that I am understanding more with each passing day. Today, when I was trying to sign into my Gmail, it said, “The username or password is not correct”. I thought it was perhaps I spelled my username/password wrong, so I slowly retyped it.

No result.

My heart skipped a beat as I quickly realized what happened. I’ve been hacked into.

Quick! I must sign into my Gmail to notify all my friends! Oh.

Well, gotta make sure all my online documents are intact! Oh.

Maybe I can at least sign into Blogger or check my Calendar? Oh.

I didn’t realize how dependent I had become on one corporation until now. My mind started to reel as I had no idea on what exactly to do. I quickly contacted Google and filled out their account information sheet to reaccess my account. (As a sidenote, one of the most interesting input forms on there was to mention five frequently-mentioned people that you email – that took me a while as I was thinking of people I email daily. Try it yourself:). Alhamdulillah (all praise be to Allah), my account got reestablished in less than an hour and I was able to happily stare at my inbox once more.

This year was our first year having Taraweeh (nightly Ramadan prayers) in a hotel instead of at our masjid (Dar-us-Salaam) because there were too many people and there are zoning issues going around. Many people weren’t happy, but it got me thinking…

Imagine life without your community. Imagine life without Islam. You really don’t know what you got until it’s gone…

BUY THIS NOW!

FORWARD THIS TO 1,000 FRIENDS IF YOU ARE A TRUE [insert a religious or national affiliation]!

Please, how much more of this can we stand? It’s enough when we receive these in our ’spam’ inboxes, but now, it’s doubly worse when we start receiving them from family and friends with a million people showing up in the ’sent to’ list (sidepoint – people also clearly don’t understand how to use ‘bcc’ for privaces purposes).

Of course, when we don’t know the original sender personally, there are many degrees of separation so our level of annoyance stays relatively low. However, when we start receiving thousands of spam marketing emails from a close friend/family on a matter that we really do NOT care about, that’s when the frustration really starts to erupt.

There is something known as affiliate marketing, in which one receives a commission for selling a product. Affiliate marketing is probably one of the easiest ways to make money because you don’t have to deal with orders, packaging, and shipping. All you gotta do is get people to buy the item and voila, you get a check in the mail once you reach a certain amount.

There are mutual benefits for both the original seller and the affiliate seller, but they don’t realize that many times, they are incessantly annoying others with their endless emails being sent from them and forwarded to many others. Of course, there is nothing wrong with making money, but don’t do it at the expense of others.

Another important factor to keep in mind is that you will probably make more money if you have an intended audience and a product that suits them well. For example, when dealing with Muslim customers, what type of products should you try selling them? Muslim Products! (Duh). If you sell specific items to a certain audience niche, they will be more forthcoming and receptive to your emails as those items are desirable to them.

Of course, remember not to overdo anything, especially as Islam is built on moderation. There is an excellent discussion that talks about the early days of DiscoverULife, a lifecoaching service started by Muhammad AlShareef, which in itself is an amazing project. However, before to graduate from the class, one had to provide paid lifecoaching services to ten others, which caused quite a ruckus, I assure you. Alhamdulillah, now the requirements to graduate is to give free one lifecoaching session to 50 people and they get rated on that feedback. That example shows that even though something may be very useful, but it is also important to present it in a pleasing manner.

Enough of all this spam. Let’s find more creative ways of marketing and making money.

Btw, forward this to everybody you know or in five hours, something may… Just kidding!

Whenever I see something cool on @yasirqadhi or @MuslimUpdates, I normally retweet it without much thought other than to share the knowledge/news with others. Most blogs now actually have a reTweet button on their site so that others can reTweet and I think it’s perfectly fine as the reader has full freedom to reTweet it if he/she so desires.

However, on sites such as Tumblr, whenever I see the ‘reBlog’ button, I cringe. I mean, if they already have it online and it’s viewable to the whole world, then why is there a necessity for one to reBlog it? I had never given it much thought until I realized that Twitter is basically a micro-blogging software, which brings it into the blogosphere realm.

At first glance, reTweeting (which is bascially reMicroBlogging) seems to be the same as reBlogging. However, I thought about the goals of Tweeting and Blogging. Tweeting is essentially giving the answer to “What are you doing?” (shown prominently on top of the input text field). Blogging, on the other hand, started off like Twitter as just being an online diary and status updater, but quickly expanded into many other fields. Soon, blogging became more of a thing where someone can post their thoughts on an issue and share their knowledge and expertise on an issue. Whereas tweeting is short-term based, blogging is more long-term based as the knowledge stays posted and goes on different search engines.

One may argue that blogs are also just a status-updating tool, but the demographics of blogging are quickly changing. Most companies have made corporate blogs not because they have free time on their hands, but because they want to send a message to the general public, whether it may be for marketing purposes or to just show that they are still socially relevant. I personally believe if you really want to share a blog post, just tweet it. No need to add cybertrash because what ends up happening is that the same text appears over and over. and over and over. and over and over again all across the web when we can merely tweet it, save it to our del.icio.us, or provide a link on our blogs.

Let’s strive to be creative and write our own tidbits instead of just sending shoutouts and copying other people’s writings.
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Just kidding!:)